Despite being the most famous motorbike races in the world the Isle of Man TT seems to be years behind in terms of media and production. The island only has a capacity for a certain amount of visitors and demand far outstrips supply leaving thousands of bike fans from all over the world disappointed. Even when you are on the island there is the small matter of the races being time trials which makes following what is happening a little more difficult than some race fans may be used to. With all this in mind here are the recommended ways of watching, listening to and otherwise following the Isle of Man TT races.

Manx Radio – Live Coverage

Manx Radio provide live commentary on their AM frequency (1368) for all practice sessions and the races themselves. If you’re not on the island then it is also streamed live over the internet. Practices tend to be covered by a couple of pit-lane commentators with regular timing updates, interspersed with what you would call “typical” TT music. For the races the production is ramped up a bit with commentators at Glen Helen, Ramsey and the grandstand as well as the pit-lane/return lane.

TT Live Timings

You can either use the TT website or the apps for Android/Apple, personally I prefer the website as it seems to be more reliable than the dedicated mobile apps. Each bike is fitted with a transponder which triggers timing and average speed information at several points around the course, namely Glen Helen, Ballaugh, Ramsey, Bungalow, Cronk-ny-Mona and the Grandstand. There are also speed traps on the Sulby Straight and past the Grandstand. By following the live timings you are getting pretty much the same information as what the radio is telling you but without having to listen to them fumbling over the information, which is in itself all part of the TT experience 🙂 Whether you’re sat in a hedge near Crosby or trying to follow what is going on from your living room in Australia the timings website or the associated apps are very strongly recommended. By combining the live timings with the radio and a webcam or two you’re probably going to get as close to an authentic experience as you can.

Television Coverage Of The Isle of Man TT

Will we ever see live coverage of the TT? There are ambitions to do it but whether or not it comes to fruition who can say? There are a number of problems, not least being the fact that the race schedule is very rarely the actual race schedule! It’s a big circuit in an area of the world with massively variable weather. Then there are the inevitable accidents, some of which will be serious in nature. Surely one day live TV coverage will happen but it may not be in the form of traditional broadcasting on one of the mainstream channels. In the meantime those of you on island or in the UK have a daily highlights program on ITV4 which is superb. Other broadcasters around the world do run their own highlights packages but if you can watch it then the ITV4 program is probably the best of the lot. You’ll just need a UK internet connection for free access.

Webcams, Facebook, Twitter And Periscope

There is no shortage of webcams on the Isle of Man, many of which are government run. You can find further details on our webcams page. Several of these webcams overlook certain parts of the course and whilst there is zero reliability as to whether or not they will be running or not ( There have been rumors that some are shut down at certain times of the year or even being forced to be geo-restricted so that they can only be viewed from people in certain countries ) it does at least give some insight in to what is happening on the island. As well as the webcams there is a lot of social media around the whole event with several popular Facebook, photographs and video clips are posted on a regular basis. It seems just about everybody at the TT is carrying a camera and most are willing to share what they’ve captured!

Last but not least there are several Twitter accounts that follow the racing and general TT event. In addition Twitters new service Periscope adds a whole new dimension to the social media side of things by allowing people to live stream video of their own experiences. It is incredibly simple to use and really does provide a whole new angle to the racing, one which organisers should be embracing to further the reach of this unique event!

How To Use Periscope
Periscope is a live video sharing service from Twitter, in order to use it you will need a Twitter account. From there it is simply a case of downloading the app for your Android or Apple phone or tablet. Sign in and click on the globe in the top menu to search for streams via location. If you zoom in on the Isle of Man you’ll see previously recorded videos as blue dots and streams that are currently broadcasting as live as red dots. That’s all there is to it. However if you don’t have a Periscope or Twitter account then some of the Twitter profiles featured above link to all sorts of media which can be played in a web browser directly.